Example Scenario: Aero Desktop Theme

The following example assumes that there is a problem displaying Windows Aero® effects. The Windows Aero troubleshooting pack performs the following steps:

The user runs the Troubleshooting Wizard from the Control Panel or from the Windows 7 Action Center. The troubleshooting engine loads the appropriate Windows troubleshooting pack, which automatically checks for root causes to the problem the user is attempting to troubleshoot. For example, some of the root causes that the Aero troubleshooting pack checks for include:

The current theme does not support Windows Aero.

Transparency is disabled.

The Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service is not running.

If Automatically Apply Fixes is selected (the default setting), the troubleshooting engine runs the resolver script for each root cause that was identified in the previous step. For example, if the Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service is not running, the resolver script starts the service and configures it to start automatically the next time Windows starts. If Automatically Apply Fixes is not selected, the wizard prompts the user to approve each resolution step before it is applied.

Figure 1: A Windows Troubleshooting Pack Wizard

The troubleshooting engine runs the verifier script for each root cause that was identified to determine whether it was successfully resolved in the previous step.

The troubleshooting engine displays a summary report to the user, showing which problems were checked, detected, and resolved.

Figure 2: A Windows Troubleshooting Pack Summary Report

Although the Windows Aero troubleshooting pack can automatically solve many common root causes of display issues, it cannot solve every potential problem. For example, the user might need to place a call to the support center if the resolution requires administrative privileges or if they need to upgrade the computer hardware. Because the user has run the troubleshooter, the most common root causes have already been eliminated. IT professionals can view the Troubleshooting History to review the user’s actions and efficiently determine the next steps.